Livermore, the film, explores the supposed weirdness of the filmmakers' hometown, Livermore, California. Only it really isn't a very weird town. In fact, it's rather normal. If one were exploring the town touristically, one would visit (1) the world's longest running lightbulb, (2) the totem pole in the park, and (3) the Livermore nuclear labs (if tours are available). However, the filmmakers enhance the normal stuff of town life with eerie music, and they photograph the people with a wide angle lens, making the people look small in their large chairs next to their large lamps. Sometimes, a solitary person is placed on a large sofa, and photographed off-center, so the person looks small and alone in the larger world of his or her house. Thus, a sci-fi atmosphere is given to the piece, removing it by one or two levels of oddness from a Chamber of Commerce film.
Scenes from a 1969 documentary about Livermore are interspersed through the film, along with interviews with the earlier documentarians. These are non-professional civic boosters, who merely wanted to document the centenary of the town. The clips show various parades and civil activities, none of any particular interest.
The filmmakers devote a considerable amount of film-time to the world's longest continuously operating electric light bulb. They treat this bulb as though it is a freakish thing, and want you to laugh at those who would see this bulb as a point of civil pride. But they barely show the bulb in action, or say how it came to be lit, or how it has stayed lit for over 100 years, a good question, considering that the place where it now rests is a modern firehouse. But this movie is not "Modern Marvels," rather, it is an exercise in atmosphere, so the questions are not asked or answered.
Other segments of the film concern the search for a time capsule buried in 1970, which can no longer be found. Again, the filmmakers do not answer the most basic question: why would one want to unbury a capsule buried in 1970--why not wait until at least 2070? We simply must accept that someone decided to unearth the capsule. The story then goes to the search, and the fact that no one in town remembered where the capsule was hidden. The film ends with its whereabouts still a mystery, but the titles at the end tell us that someone found a record of its location, and it was found under the town totem pole. So why not include this in the film proper? I don't know.
The most poignant segment is one dealing with a photographer who briefly became famous for a book of photos of the people of Livermore. The book, published in the 70s (if I remember correctly) was seen as an expose of the perversity of suburban life--fat people eating lots of meat in large houses with wall-to-wall carpeting. The man who created these photos, a local reporter, is now struggling to survive in Livermore, taking low-paying jobs as a substitute teacher. Sometimes one of his photos is used in a sociology book and he receives a check. The makers of this film must be foreseeing their own future after the film fails to find an audience beyond the municipal building of the town of Livermore.
Scenes from a 1969 documentary about Livermore are interspersed through the film, along with interviews with the earlier documentarians. These are non-professional civic boosters, who merely wanted to document the centenary of the town. The clips show various parades and civil activities, none of any particular interest.
The filmmakers devote a considerable amount of film-time to the world's longest continuously operating electric light bulb. They treat this bulb as though it is a freakish thing, and want you to laugh at those who would see this bulb as a point of civil pride. But they barely show the bulb in action, or say how it came to be lit, or how it has stayed lit for over 100 years, a good question, considering that the place where it now rests is a modern firehouse. But this movie is not "Modern Marvels," rather, it is an exercise in atmosphere, so the questions are not asked or answered.
Other segments of the film concern the search for a time capsule buried in 1970, which can no longer be found. Again, the filmmakers do not answer the most basic question: why would one want to unbury a capsule buried in 1970--why not wait until at least 2070? We simply must accept that someone decided to unearth the capsule. The story then goes to the search, and the fact that no one in town remembered where the capsule was hidden. The film ends with its whereabouts still a mystery, but the titles at the end tell us that someone found a record of its location, and it was found under the town totem pole. So why not include this in the film proper? I don't know.
The most poignant segment is one dealing with a photographer who briefly became famous for a book of photos of the people of Livermore. The book, published in the 70s (if I remember correctly) was seen as an expose of the perversity of suburban life--fat people eating lots of meat in large houses with wall-to-wall carpeting. The man who created these photos, a local reporter, is now struggling to survive in Livermore, taking low-paying jobs as a substitute teacher. Sometimes one of his photos is used in a sociology book and he receives a check. The makers of this film must be foreseeing their own future after the film fails to find an audience beyond the municipal building of the town of Livermore.
